SALT advice needed - I need to talk to parents about possible speech therapy for their ds

[miaou]

Don't know them well so not sure how they will react to this. We have a visiting educational support worker who has identified this little boy as needing extra support when he goes into P1 in August and want to set the ball rolling now. However our (lack of) expertise means we are not sure if SALT is appropriate or not - can you help advise?

His pronounciation is not bad. His vocabulary is very limited (eg he doesn't know the word for ambulance though his mum drives one, and can't correctly identify farm animals despite living on a farm). His syntax is poor and he is often unable to articulate what he wants to say. His understanding is poor too - he cannot answer questions like "which tower is bigger?" "what is your daddy's name?" Is x (his brother) a boy or a girl?". He gets mixed up with his, hers, its as well.

Do these sound like the sort of issues a SALT could help with or should we be looking elsewhere for advice/help?

Plus any tips on handling this tactfully much appreciated!

Thank you

a leetle bump ...

Sounds bigger than SALT tbh, when you mention heis issues with understanding basic concepts, but that would be a good start.

How about an educational pyschologist? They can then refer on to other specialists as they think appropriate, but would be able to give suggestions for his transition into P1 (if he's going to manage that at all this year?)

(ds is seeing an edpsych atm and as he's progressed she's made suggestions of who to see next, but more as a process of elimination IYSWIM. So SALT mentioned but ruled out, physio seen and now ruled out, now just OT to go!)

Thanks for that bobsmum - I did wonder if ed psych was more appropriate. What's the best way to go about this? If the parents are agreeable (and obviously we can't do anything if they are not) then I was going to suggest they went through the HV to ask for referral (this was suggested by my boss as she feels things will happen quicker if the request comes from the parents).

Incidentally, I don't think he has any learning difficulties, just communication ones. He is a lovely little chap . Socially he is great with other children and I don't think he will have problems with the structure of a school day etc - however he could end up a little isolated until this problem is solved. It is a very small school and our nursery is attached to it, and he knows all the pupils, so that is an advantage.

I am going away for the weekend now but if anyone else has any more advice (moondog?) then I would love to hear it and will get back to this Monday evening (hopefully)

bumping for you

I had some concerns about my ds's speach a while ago, which I discussed with his nursery teacher. She thought he was probably ok, but understood my concerns. She asked if I wanted her to refer him as her experience was that if she referred him rather than hv it was dealt with quicker as nursery have more contact with the child.

thanks bobsmum and scanner - any more thoughts on this anyone?

it does sound as if SALT could be of help and i would certainly invite an assesment.
it may be usefull to enquire about getting an Ed psych as well though just to rule out anything on top of teh s+l probs

I don't think it is you place to say what sort of help he needs - just to tell the parents what you have observed and then suggest they see the health visitor/doctor for further advice. If they know which school he will be going to you might also like to suggest that they ask someone from the school comes to observe him now so that they can make provision if they think it is necessary.

Tell them isn't going to be easy if they have no idea, but I guess you also need to talk about his positives, that the earlier things can be done the better the outcome and emphasize how the pre school would like to help him, but that guidance is needed on the right thing to do.

Our pre school provided some one-on-one to a little boy who when he started seemed very delayed in speech and understanding and it made a huge difference. TBH I just don't think he was spoken too much at home because the mother was under enormous stress and it was easier to let him watch TV. He was also very young in his year. Now he's in reception and seems so much better, for example he says hello to me when we meet and I can understand him - couldn't manage this when I used to take him to preschool for mum.

Thanks LizP etc - didn't see your message until after I had spoken to the parents this lunchtime but I did follow all your advice! . The parents have asked me to contact the HV, but also asked if I can get the HV to contact them to talk them through the options etc.

Thanks for all the advice and feedback, it helped to give me confidence to speak to them this afternoon (not done this sort of thing before!)